Came here in trying to help my father understand why he was feeling a "tug" as well on his 2012 jeep grand cherokee. it's exactly what everyone described here.
It's a shame, I have an '04, Mazda 6 with 185K miles and have never had any issues like this or major parts replaced.

Jeep does not equal quality apparently. And the lack of information is a very interesting stand to take, hemorrhaging customers 1 days at a time.

Our 2013 Grand Cherokee Overland had the same fish bite experience in the transmission described in this forum. We brought it back to the dealership with only 200 miles on it. That began a series of visits over the course of a year – 8 visits in all.

We finally received the infamous software update (first promised in March 2013, then June, then July, and then August). The software update made the problem worse!

We then began the Lemon Law process in our state. After 2 months of facilitating paperwork through the process, Chrysler eventually said they could not replicate the problem when they had us back for a ‘final repair attempt’ (BS). Our state encouraged us to press forward, saying Chrysler’s response was typical for a company not wanting to buy back the vehicle. We pressed forward and Chrysler eventually stopped responding to our certified letters and official Lemon Law paperwork. The final step would have been arbitration.

We would have only felt comfortable going into arbitration with Chrysler had we employed an attorney of our own. We did a quick cost/benefit analysis of hiring an attorney versus trading the GC in on a different SUV. Fortunately the GC retained its value pretty well, so we just traded it in on a different make/model SUV at a slight loss.

To satisfy our curiosity, we drove a 2014 Grand Cherokee, V6 and V8 (our 2013 was a V8) and it also had an incredibly rough transmission.

If you’ve heard the saying ‘if it’s too good to be true, it probably is’ – this saying applies to the Grand Cherokee. A $40k vehicle full of luxurious features, powerful engine and good looks really is too good to be true nowadays. We happily traded our Jeep in on a well-made German SUV that has great comfort and drives as smooth as glass… no fish bites!

If the fish bite issue bothers you as much as it did us, sell or trade in your GC now. Chrysler is not going to do anything about the problem.

WOW, such awful experiences. I'm truly sorry for those with this condition. I have a 2012, ordered new, and it has never had "fishbite". All the newer software changes have been done to the Jeep and it runs better. The latest tramission "fix" helped the Jeep at slow speeds respond bettter and it works.

You have to remember that most of us do not have this condition but I can't tell you why you have it. But I'll keep mine.

WOW, such awful experiences. I'm truly sorry for those with this condition. I have a 2012, ordered new, and it has never had "fishbite". All the newer software changes have been done to the Jeep and it runs better. The latest tramission "fix" helped the Jeep at slow speeds respond bettter and it works.

You have to remember that most of us do not have this condition but I can't tell you why you have it. But I'll keep mine.

I find it amazing that you don't have the"fishbite".
Good for you though! , its a terrible condition. Really ruins an otherwise great truck.
Also if you have the V6 you won't have the fishbite .
Its very noticeable in V8s with ACC/cruise control on between 55 & 75 mph.
People with lead right foot won't notice it either. Heavy throttle eliminates the feeling but cost you at the pumps.

I have a Hemi. Last year I went through West Virgina on RT 77 S. Lots of ups and downs. It shifted just perfect and at the right time going up hils at 55MPH to 65MPH. I loved it. It was on cruise control and stayed at set speed up the hills.

I really wish all ran like mine. I imagine it is terrible and I can imagine how it would feel with all the explanations. I use mine for towing and running forest roads out west in national parks. Kind of gives you some nice views without any crowds.

I find it amazing that you don't have the"fishbite".
Good for you though! , its a terrible condition. Really ruins an otherwise great truck.
Also if you have the V6 you won't have the fishbite .
Its very noticeable in V8s with ACC/cruise control on between 55 & 75 mph.
People with lead right foot won't notice it either. Heavy throttle eliminates the feeling but cost you at the pumps.

There seems to be only a few vehicles with this condition, annoying as it is. More folks have shudder than the rare fishbite (which some may be in fact an engine or fuel thing).

The vast majority of these transmissions in Jeeps since its introduction in... oh.... 1999 are smooth and durable. You would think Jeep could get them 100% right after 14-15 years or so, instead of only 99.9%. My 2011 V8 as well as our Y2000 are smooth but not slushy like some of Mercedes and BMW efforts.

Don't get me going about those german luxury brands that currently spend more time marketing than building reliable vehicles.

I have a Hemi. Last year I went through West Virgina on RT 77 S. Lots of ups and downs. It shifted just perfect and at the right time going up hils at 55MPH to 65MPH. I loved it. It was on cruise control and stayed at set speed up the hills.

I really wish all ran like mine. I imagine it is terrible and I can imagine how it would feel with all the explanations. I use mine for towing and running forest roads out west in national parks. Kind of gives you some nice views without any crowds.

I have a hemi, too. But my thanksgiving trip down 77 yielded over 100 instances of violent torque shutter. Annoying. Jeep replaced my torque converter pump. It didn't make a single bit of difference. Currently, jeep is reviewing all shift data. I think that means...... We are clueless.

Bought 2011 LIMITED HEMI in late-July 2013 with a clean warranty after 24000 of original owner mileage.

First. I had issues with a transmission shutter on acceleration when releasing from corners. My local mechanic and transmission expert said feels like torque converter. I took it to jeep. They did not acknowledge any shutter on road test and diagnostics were clean. They were happy to tell me that the software was updated.

After this flash, massive fish bite when releasing the throttle. My MPG went from 17 to 12. not good. Feels like the brakes are pumping upon release of throttle Also, the transmission shutter on acceleration is more pronounced and frequent.

I returned to jeep. But once again, dealer did not acknowledge the fish bite nor shutter.

Now its late-September, I returned to jeep and met the lead tech with decades of Jeep experience. He did acknowledge the shutter when engaging throttle exiting corners. He thought it was an ESP issue. But again the diagnostics said it was a perfect car. He examined the engine compartment. It seemed odd to him. He re-flashed the software. He told me that this was one of the first Jeeps off the line. This concerns me.

After second flash, the fishbite is slightly better and mpg has increased to 15. However, the transmission shutter as increased. It is more pronounced and frequent. it appears in straightaways, too. only in 3-4-5 gears. it is intermittent, but easily recreated with autostick.

I am sick to my stomach. I cannot afford to dump this car. Plus i really like it otherwise.

WoW after searching through Posts i finaly found yours that discribes what mine is doing... I made an appointment to have my 3rd water pump installed on my 12 GCL 5.7 and they told me that a update/flash will done for the transmission, I had complained before about tugging-shutter-fishbite to the dealer. well after getting the flash, when i let off the gas it seens to deaccelerate rapidly almost like the E-brake is on or it is in a Lower gear or the Tourque converter is bitting ? AND yes I went from 21-19mpg to 14-12mpg I will do the same, have them reflash it. sorry for your issues but thanks because atleast i am not the only one

If your jeep acts like mine, your mpg will improve quite a bit after the learning phase (all learned parameters were erased during the flash), but probably not back to before the flash as the shifts are set a little more aggressive (holds gears longer, downshifts earlier and thus you feel the engine braking more).

I like the improved shift program, I don't really need to switch to sport mode now. After driving 1000 miles or so I have noticed a bit of shudder developing at 60mph +/-, however.

I experience a tad of fishbite once over 40,000 miles and I attributed that to a "bad" tank of fuel.

I have a 2011 WK Grand Cherokee Limited, T/D auto with 35,000kms on the clock.

Ever since it had around 11,000kms it has developed a distinctive thump whenever I move off after braking, regardless if I "idle away" or accelerate hard.

I have had it in for service at least 3 times for this problem, the transmission has been flashed several times without any apparent change.

Recently, on four separate occasions, when I just idled away from a stop (and after the normal "thump") as the vehicle changed into second gear,
there was on 4 separate occasions, a fairly violent shudder and what seemed to be clutch pack slippage during the gear change.

I really think the Dealer has exhausted all of the avenues available to them but I don't know who to turn to now.

Can someone please advise how I can escalate the problem directly to Chrysler Australia to get their technical experts to trouble shoot the problem before I have a drastic failure.

Well it has been aprx 2000mi with no changes so made an app to have them take another look when i got there they told me to leave it for a few DAYS. so they had my Full attention now my reply was WHY ? so we can hook up the scanner and see whats going on, I asked is the machine like a Dyno that you can see whats it is doing, " WAIT FOR IT---WAIT FOR IT his Jak azz reply was OH NO it is a hand held that we plug in and reads the codes, My reply (after wiping "I LOOK STUPID" off my forehead ) are you kidding my a few days to do that will you Please just re-flash it and i will be on my way!! not the best thing to do because after Expressing my "are you kidding" Kinda Aggressively / loudly 3 1/2 hrs in the waiting room I was on my way
so short story LONG I will update if the second flash worked

What is sad in all this is that the jeep customer has become more informed than the dealerships on this issue... Bad customer service. While I love my jeep it I will not buy another.

I forgot the Best part, he said it is odd that the flash did not work, I mentioned that a few others on some Jeep Forums are experiencing the same as mine. He said that the forums are not even worth looking at. I had no reply. I have Nothing bet GREAT respect for every forum member. Every time someone has a problem with there JEEP what is the first place they go and Look ? Heck Ya the JEEP Forums and the Best thing is they get an Unbiased answer almost faster then the dealer
Dont get me wrong I love my Jeep and the 4 new ones before this one. The only one that was trouble free was the 95 Cherokee, I had about 300000mi on it and gave it to my brother and he put another 20000mi on it before he Totaled it